Agricultural Development and Foods Minister Evaggelos Basiakos on Wednesday said that a recent crisis in prices and distribution of certain farm products, such as peaches, industrial tomato, rice, wheat, corn, grapes, potatoes and onions, was attributed to this year's over-production levels, large inventories accumulated over the last three years, an increase in imports and a decline in exports of farm products (that led to a farm trade deficit of 670 billion drachmas in 2003), legal barriers in prohibiting imports, implementation of community directives and lack of preparatory work by domestic bodies.

The Greek minister stressed that the government was taking all necessary measures -in line with community directives and after a systematic dialogue with farm unions- to protect domestic market and producers and noted that the government was not entitled to set prices on farm products, but only to intervene as an intermediary.

Basiakos said that government was taking additional measures aimed to speed-up payment of subsidies and compensations to farmers, extra measures to reduct production costs, improve competitiveness, raise pensions and abolish the burden of penalty interest rates on unpaid bank loans. The government aimed to increase farm spending by around 8.0 percent, to offer support and make a more efficient use of community programmes for the farm sector, while it would seek to boost consumption in the domestic market and to impose stricter rules for manufacturers and traders of farm products, Basiakos noted.

He noted that community adjustments achieved by the government during talks over a new Common Agricultural Policy in April would be implemented from 2006.